Is this bulid good?

Hi!

What do you think of this build:

Asus Rampage Formula
Q9450
Some good air CPU cooler
2*2GB Corsair Dominator 1066Mhz Fan Kit
HD 4870
I already have:
2*500GB SATA2 Hard drive
Plexwriter
X-fi Extreme Gamer
FSP 800W PSU

Im planning to run CF later on.
Also I would like to get some good case. Im leaning towards the Thermaltake Armor series, i just dont know which one to get. What do you guys recommend?
Id like to use it for everything.

Message edited by szala11 on 09-03-2008 at 10:11:54 PM

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Looks good except for the RAM. Get some DDR2-800 that will operate at the JEDEC standard 1.8V, like this Mushkin:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146731
I'm guessing that Corsair is factory overclocked to the point of getting hot enough to need a fan; to me that means it's only a matter of time before it croaks. The Corsair Dominator DDR2-1066 with fan I found at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145197 requires 2.1V to get 5-5-5-15 timing. The Mushkin I linked doesn't need a fan, only needs 1.8V, and has 5-4-4-12 timing. Oh, and the Mushkin is $40 cheaper after MIR for each.
If you have not bought these parts yet, you might forego the sound card, at least until you find out if the mobo sound is good enough. It probably is.

Message quoted 2 times

------------------------------ There is ALWAYS a drone. Exactly where, or how many drones you will encounter may vary, but that there will be at least one will not.
Reply to jtt283

jtt283 wrote :

Looks good except for the RAM. Get some DDR2-800 that will operate at the JEDEC standard 1.8V, like this Mushkin:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146731
I'm guessing that Corsair is factory overclocked to the point of getting hot enough to need a fan; to me that means it's only a matter of time before it croaks. The Corsair Dominator DDR2-1066 with fan I found at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145197 requires 2.1V to get 5-5-5-15 timing. The Mushkin I linked doesn't need a fan, only needs 1.8V, and has 5-4-4-12 timing. Oh, and the Mushkin is $40 cheaper after MIR for each.
If you have not bought these parts yet, you might forego the sound card, at least until you find out if the mobo sound is good enough. It probably is.

The dominators operate at 1066Mhz Default clock, so it is not an OC value. If i overclock these dominators they can go to 1200Mhz, that's the maximum memory speed this mobo supports. I can get a 2*2 kit just for 125$ (Central Europe). Still not worth??

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to szala11

jtt283 wrote :

Looks good except for the RAM. Get some DDR2-800 that will operate at the JEDEC standard 1.8V, like this Mushkin:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146731
I'm guessing that Corsair is factory overclocked to the point of getting hot enough to need a fan; to me that means it's only a matter of time before it croaks. The Corsair Dominator DDR2-1066 with fan I found at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145197 requires 2.1V to get 5-5-5-15 timing. The Mushkin I linked doesn't need a fan, only needs 1.8V, and has 5-4-4-12 timing. Oh, and the Mushkin is $40 cheaper after MIR for each.
If you have not bought these parts yet, you might forego the sound card, at least until you find out if the mobo sound is good enough. It probably is.

+1

I have the same board and the sound card that Asus puts with the board is good but if you have good speakers or headphones and/or really care about quality sound and/or are concerned about CPU overhead then it's better to go with an aftermarket sound card although I would suggest a different one than the one you chose. I would suggest something like this instead.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by ausch30 on 09-03-2008 at 10:43:12 PM

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It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
-Aristotle
Reply to ausch30

szala11 wrote :

The dominators operate at 1066Mhz Default clock, so it is not an OC value. If i overclock these dominators they can go to 1200Mhz, that's the maximum memory speed this mobo supports. I can get a 2*2 kit just for 125$ (Central Europe). Still not worth??

No they don't and yes it is. Find something somewhere where Dominators are listed at 1066 1.8v, anything higher than 1.8v is overclocked. They are listed as 1066 5-5-5-15 2.1v which is an overclocked value.

this
and
this
are the only true DDR2 1066 that Newegg carries.

Message edited by ausch30 on 09-03-2008 at 10:52:12 PM

------------------------------
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
-Aristotle
Reply to ausch30

ausch30 wrote :

+1

I have the same board and the sound card that Asus puts with the board is good but if you have good speakers or headphones and/or really care about quality sound and/or are concerned about CPU overhead then it's better to go with an aftermarket sound card although I would suggest a different one than the one you chose. I would suggest something like this instead.

Sorry ausch3, link doesn't work. I do care about CPU overhead, but as i mentiod before, im planning to buy a Quad System. Maybe it can handle multitasking difficult programs and games alike, so hopefully i wont need an expensive Sound Card. I think an Extreme Gamer will do the task.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to szala11

Do you have a link to that RAM? It may still be DDR2-1066, but likely has timings of 6-6-6-18 or worse at only 1.8V (if it is stable at all). The price on Newegg (I know you can't shop there; just for comparison) was $109 after MIR, and the price on the Mushkin was $69 after MIR. Before rebates they are $149 and $89 respectively. After any BIOS reset, your system will be operating at 1.8V until you manually tweak your RAM voltage, assuming you can get into the BIOS without playing further games like removing all but one stick. The JEDEC standard voltage for DDR2 is 1.8V; advertising that you don't adhere to the standard (e.g. Corsair) doesn't make it ok.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ There is ALWAYS a drone. Exactly where, or how many drones you will encounter may vary, but that there will be at least one will not.
Reply to jtt283

szala11 wrote :

Sorry ausch3, link doesn't work. I do care about CPU overhead, but as i mentiod before, im planning to buy a Quad System. Maybe it can handle multitasking difficult programs and games alike, so hopefully i wont need an expensive Sound Card. I think an Extreme Gamer will do the task.

I was editing some stuff, I just tried the link and it worked.

------------------------------
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
-Aristotle
Reply to ausch30

jtt283 wrote :

Do you have a link to that RAM? It may still be DDR2-1066, but likely has timings of 6-6-6-18 or worse at only 1.8V (if it is stable at all). The price on Newegg (I know you can't shop there; just for comparison) was $109 after MIR, and the price on the Mushkin was $69 after MIR. Before rebates they are $149 and $89 respectively. After any BIOS reset, your system will be operating at 1.8V until you manually tweak your RAM voltage, assuming you can get into the BIOS without playing further games like removing all but one stick. The JEDEC standard voltage for DDR2 is 1.8V; advertising that you don't adhere to the standard (e.g. Corsair) doesn't make it ok.

The Corsair's type was TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF. So it is not recommenden to buy memory above 1.8V?
On the Corsair page it is excatly the last one:

http://www.corsair.com/products/dominator.aspx

It has timings of 5-5-5-15.

It is very hard to get Mushkin Ram here in Central Europe, i know there are a lot of them in the States.

Reply to szala11

Of the RAM that is available to you, I would select some DDR2-800 that operates at its advertised timings at the JEDEC standard 1.8V.

------------------------------ There is ALWAYS a drone. Exactly where, or how many drones you will encounter may vary, but that there will be at least one will not.
Reply to jtt283

Another +1 to jtt283's suggestion on DDR2 800. Most 1066 memory is just overclocked 800 memory. If you are planning on overclocking, you can do it yourself.

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Reply to huron

my only suggestion is the same as everyone else. DDR2 1066 isn't really worth it. and if you want it that much, just OC your 800 ram.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Nik_I

huron wrote :

Another +1 to jtt283's suggestion on DDR2 800. Most 1066 memory is just overclocked 800 memory. If you are planning on overclocking, you can do it yourself.

I could never go above 950Mhz without the system started to lock up.
Why are 1066Mhz RAMs not recommended? Just because of the expected short lifepan?
2.1V is bad just because of the heat generated and the short life expectancy of the ram?

Reply to szala11

Nik_I wrote :

my only suggestion is the same as everyone else. DDR2 1066 isn't really worth it. and if you want it that much, just OC your 800 ram.

But you can OC the 1066 to 1200Mhz... almost DDR3 :bounce:

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to szala11

The thermal take armor series is definitely a good line of cases. Personally I'd rather have an Antec 900 though. For me Antec cases are easier to work with and I find that there cases are always of good quality.

As for your RAM it is true that just about all 1066 memory is overclocked 800 memory. Still it's memory that can reach 1066, and if it's from a good manufacturer it can go beyond. I'd recommend Corsair or Mushkin if you want to overclock further, but OCZ and Gel ain't bad either.

Message quoted 1 times

megamanx00 wrote :

The thermal take armor series is definitely a good line of cases. Personally I'd rather have an Antec 900 though. For me Antec cases are easier to work with and I find that there cases are always of good quality.

As for your RAM it is true that just about all 1066 memory is overclocked 800 memory. Still it's memory that can reach 1066, and if it's from a good manufacturer it can go beyond. I'd recommend Corsair or Mushkin if you want to overclock further, but OCZ and Gel ain't bad either.

So you say it is not guaranteed that if i buy a 1066Mhz Kit it will work on 1066Mhz? Maybe a bit lower?

Also if i buy any 1066Mhz memkit will I be able to reach or maybe go beyond 1200Mhz a bit?

Reply to szala11

szala11 wrote :

But you can OC the 1066 to 1200Mhz... almost DDR3 :bounce:

you can, but i've been able to OC my corsair 800Mhz ram up to 1200Mhz also.

------------------------------ ECS A780GM-A, Phenom II x3 710, 4GB Corsair @800Mhz, HIS Radeon 4850, Seagate 7200.11 500GB, Auzentech X-Plosion 7.1 Cinema, LiteOn DL-DVD w/Lightscribe, ASUS TA-863, OCZ StealthXStream 500W, Samsung Syncmaster T240, Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Reply to Nik_I

What kind of mobo do you have?
And can you give me a link to the exact type of the memory you could achive that big jump?

Maybe you use water cooling?

Reply to szala11

I would not recommend it because I've read too many cases of people having a hard time with their RAM after crashes or system resets. The BIOS would go back to the 1.8V default and they couldn't get their systems stable again without playing musical chairs with their RAM or otherwise taking a series of manual steps. For myself, I'd rather play ON my PC than have to play WITH it to get it to work.

------------------------------ There is ALWAYS a drone. Exactly where, or how many drones you will encounter may vary, but that there will be at least one will not.
Reply to jtt283

Allright, so then if i plan to OC my system what kind of 800Mhz RAM shall i buy to *reach* 1200Mhz with a Rampage Formula? Will those Mushkins do the job that you recommended a bit above?

Reply to szala11

I've never tried to OC my RAM to anywhere near that degree, but if I were going to try it, I can't think of any RAM that would be more likely to reach that speed. Mushkin uses the Micro D9 chips, said to be the best.

------------------------------ There is ALWAYS a drone. Exactly where, or how many drones you will encounter may vary, but that there will be at least one will not.
Reply to jtt283

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